Apps for Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities
The following is an extensive and meticulously organized list of apps that may be helpful to individuals with dyslexia, parents of dyslexics, or the professionals who work with dyslexics (teachers, tutors, reading specialists, etc.). We carefully consider each app before we add it, ensuring that it claims to help dyslexics in ways that are in line with the evidence on how to help dyslexics. In other words, we add apps that aid with the cognitive processes used in speaking, reading, spelling, and writing, but we do not add apps that are visual aids for reading, because evidence shows that dyslexia is not a visual disability. If you are looking for a specific app, please type its name in the search bar above. If you have questions about our apps list or would like to suggest we add or remove an app, please email us at dyslexiahelp@umich.edu.
Apps Sortable List
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Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
Voro is an original and engaging puzzle game. Exercise both sides of your brain while you clear all the tiles by dragging them into clusters of the same color but keep in mind that the geometry is not orthogonal.
https://itunes.apple.com/app/voro-100-unique-puzzle/id534996970 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
This app allows independent discovery of an unknown spelling or a quick check on an uncertain word.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/a-dyslexics-dictionary/id590239077?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
This 3D app helps individuals practice every sound in the English language with detailed animations that demonstrate the correct positioning of the tongue, lips, and mouth.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speech-trainer-3d/id418333616?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 7.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5. Also compatible with Android devices 2.3 and up and web browsers on desktops and laptops.
This cloud-based tool lets students create mind maps to structure their thoughts, prepare reports, summarize books, study for exams, and much more. It's simple and intuitive, offers many export options (Word, PDF, PowerPoint etc.), and features a built-in presentation mode.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id381073026?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
This app teaches children letters, numbers, shapes, and colors with colorful fish and friendly sea life characters in eight educational activities.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fish-school-by-duck-duck-moose/id367567459?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPad and iPad mini. Requires iOS 5.1 or later.
This app acts as a virtual coloring book for your child. Your preschooler can create his own colors and draw on the screen without the mess.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brush-smudge-coloring-book/id593019205?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
This app provides a set of therapeutic hand exercises to improve fine motor skills and handwriting readiness in children and adults.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dexteria-fine-motor-skill/id420464455?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
This app includes four different games for different stages of learning that include flashcards, identification, matching, and handwriting.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/letter-quiz-free-learn-abcs/id331573236?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
The Yeti Master will explain the signs of dyslexia as the user climbs the mountain and plays the yeti games. Each game tests working memory, phonological awareness, processing speed, and visual and auditory memory.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dyslexia-quest/id448166369?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
This app helps users visualize how the elements of literature develop style and meaning by arranging them graphically around three wheels: poetry, prose, and rhetoric.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/literary-analysis-guide/id379338747?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 6.1 or later.
This app provides users with over 25,000 classic pieces of literature for free! Your reader is sure to find something enjoyable!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/free-books-23-469-classics/id364612911?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 6.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
This app contains the complete words of Shakespeare and makes them easier to read with a searchable glossary, concordance, and more!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shakespeare/id285035416?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 6.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
This app will give users access to millions of downloadable books, newspapers, magazines, and PDF’s that wil encourage reading.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kindle-read-books-ebooks-magazines/id302584613?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.1 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
This fun, interactive game is a great way to teach kids the difference between different parts of speech.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mad-libs/id326885152?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
This app helps users explore facts around the world. It features a spinning globe that spits out random fascinating facts.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/geo-walk-hd-3d-world-fact-book/id379602269?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.1.1 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
In this app, pictures of animals are paired with new vocabulary words and fun reading games—great for animal lovers!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/abc-wildlife/id379192277?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.1.1 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
This interactive app teaches children new words through sight, sound, and touch by exposing them to the world of planes, trains, and automobiles.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/abc-go/id410111251?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
This fun app teaches basic sight words and enhances spelling skills.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-bingo/id406264088?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Requires iOS 6.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
vBookz is an app that reads your PDF files aloud. An interactive cursor allows users to follow along, pause reading, or even repeat lines to ensure reading comprehension. The app is available in 16 different languages.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vbookz-pdf-voice-reader/id489447533?mt=8 -
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later.
This app provides a fun way to overcome common letter reversals such as b’s and d’s. The app’s activities teach left from right and allows users to practice what they learned by practicing their letter discrimination skills.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/letterreflex-overcoming-letter/id485920074?mt=8